JPH06170203A - Mixer for edible material, such as cooked rice - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide the device which can sufficiently agitate and mix edible materials, such as cooked rice and vinegar. CONSTITUTION:A spherical container 16 for mixing the edible materials is turned at about 45 deg. from a perpendicular line around a shaft 4 and is rotated in this state around a hollow shaft 8, by which the internal cooked rice R and the vinegar are mixed. The air is blasted from a fan through the hollow shaft 8 from air blasting holes 22a in the direction of the largest diameter part with respect to the central axis of rotation. As a result, the cooked rice R is moved in the max. diameter part with respect to the central axis of rotation of the container by the centrifugal force generated by the rotation of the container 16 and, therefore, the cooked rice R is sufficiently mixed without stagnating in the lower part of the container. Since the air is blasted in the max. diameter part direction, the air is uniformly blasted to the cooked rice R.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus for mixing food materials such as rice suitable for producing sushi rice by mixing vinegar with rice.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an apparatus as shown in FIG. 7 is known as an apparatus for producing sushi rice by mixing vinegar with rice and agitating the rice (for example, JP-A-4-4853). Gazette).

In this apparatus, a cylindrical rotary container 41 into which rice and vinegar are charged is rotated in the direction of arrow X with the central axis of rotation 42 thereof being in the horizontal direction (the condition shown in FIG. 7), and the inside of the container is rotated. The rice is stirred by the stirring member 43 to mix the rice and vinegar to produce sushi rice.

A blower / exhaust hole 44 is opened on the side surface of the rotary container 41, and a pipe 45 outside the container 41 is provided.
By blowing air into the hole 44, the rice under stirring is cooled.

[0005]

By the way, in the above apparatus, while the rotating container 41 is rotating, the rice is lifted in the container 41 by the stirring member 43 and then dropped to perform stirring and mixing. However, due to the drum-like shape of the container 41 and the horizontal center axis of rotation 42, etc., even if the container 41 is rotated, it stays in the lower portion of the container 41 and slides with the added vinegar. There is a problem that some rice cannot be moved upwards and cannot be sufficiently mixed by stirring.

Further, since the air is blown to the central portion of the container 41 from the ventilation / exhaust holes 44 on the side surface of the container 41, the rice staying in the vicinity of the inner periphery of the container 41, particularly in the lower portion of the container, is retained. There is also a problem that the air cannot reach and the air cannot be evenly distributed over the whole rice.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a mixing device for food materials such as rice, which can sufficiently mix food materials such as rice and vinegar.

[0008]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a first rotating shaft in a vertical direction from a machine base, a driving means for the rotating shaft, and a first rotating shaft. By attaching one end of a spherical foodstuff mixing container to the container so that the container can rotate about the first rotation axis, a stirring member is provided inside the container along the rotation center axis, and the machine base is provided as described above. It is connected to a second rotary shaft orthogonal to the first rotary shaft, is provided with a drive means for the second rotary shaft, and is configured such that the machine base is rotatable about the second rotary shaft. An apparatus for mixing foodstuffs such as rice, characterized in that the foodstuffs mixing container is rotated about the first rotation axis while being inclined with respect to the vertical line by the rotation of the second rotation axis. Of the ingredients such as rice mentioned above characterized in that the ingredients are mixed. Coupling device, the first rotary shaft is formed hollow, the tip of the rotary shaft is extended into the food mixing container, and an air blowing hole is formed at the front end in the direction of the maximum diameter with respect to the center of rotation of the container. And an air discharge opening is formed in the container, and air is blown into the rotary shaft from a blower to blow the food into the food in the container through the blower hole. It is constituted by the mixing device of.

[0009]

[Function] The food is put into the food mixing container, and the container is firstly placed.
When the machine base is rotated about the rotation axis and the machine base is rotated about the second rotation axis, the container gradually begins to incline from the vertical line. The rotation of the second rotating shaft is stopped in a state where the container is inclined from the vertical line (for example, a state in which the container is inclined approximately 45 degrees from the vertical line), and in this state, the container is rotated to mix and stir the food.

At this time, the food in the container slightly moves downward due to the inclination, but since the container is spherical, it is gradually moved in the direction of the maximum diameter with respect to the center of rotation of the container due to the centrifugal force accompanying the rotation. Further, as it rotates, it repeatedly rises and falls, and is sufficiently agitated and mixed by the internal agitating member.

Further, since the air from the blower is blown in the direction of the maximum diameter portion from the air blowing hole in the substantially central portion inside the container, it is sufficiently blown to the foodstuffs moved in the direction of the maximum diameter portion, and the mixture is stirred during mixing. Air can be evenly sent to the ingredients.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a partially sectional front view of a stirring device for food materials such as rice according to the present invention.

In the figure, reference numerals 1 and 1'represent U-shaped base rods (see FIG. 3), and pulleys 2 and 4 are provided at each of four tip portions.
・ ・ Is provided.

Reference numeral 3 denotes a machine which is erected on the adjacent rods 1a and 1a 'of the two base rods 1 and 1', and a rotary shaft 4 (second rotary shaft) is a bearing in the horizontal direction inside the upper end. 5,
It is rotatably provided by 5 '. A worm wheel 4a is provided on the outer periphery of the shaft 4,
By engaging the worm gear 6a of the forward / reverse rotation motor 6 provided inside the machine 3 with the wheel 4a (see FIG. 3), the motor 6 is driven to rotate in the directions of arrows A and B. There is.

Reference numeral 7 is a turning machine base having a substantially L-shaped cross section, and its upper end side surface portion 7a is connected to one end of the shaft 4 projecting from the machine housing 3. Therefore, the rotary base 7 can be rotated about the shaft 4 in the direction of arrow A or B by the shaft 4 that rotates forward and backward based on the rotation of the motor 6.

Reference numeral 8 denotes a hollow shaft (first rotating shaft) which is erected with a step portion 8a in a closed box 9 inside the rotating machine base 7 and is rotatable by bearings 10, 11 and 12. A flange portion 8b at the tip of the shaft 8 projects above the machine base 7, and a large-diameter gear 13 is provided on the side surface of the shaft 8. And the gear 1
A small-diameter gear 14a provided on a pulley of a motor 14 in the machine base 7 meshes with the shaft 3 (see FIG. 2), and the shaft 8 is rotated by the motor 14 in the arrow C direction. There is. A plurality of through holes 8c penetrating into the internal space of the shaft 8 are formed in the side surface of the lower end of the shaft 8 in the closed box 9, forming a so-called rotary valve.

Reference numeral 15 is a blower provided in the machine base 7, and a blower pipe 15a is connected to a side surface of the airtight box 9 so that air can be blown into the airtight box 9 through the pipe 15a. Has become. The air blown into the box 9 enters the internal space of the shaft 8 through the through hole 8c and is blown above the shaft 8.

Reference numeral 16 denotes a spherical food mixing container, which is composed of a hemispherical lower half portion 16a and an upper half portion 16b, and their flanges 16a ', 16b' are hermetically connected by lock members 17, 17. Has been done.

Reference numeral 18 denotes a cylindrical hollow shaft projecting downward at the center of the lower end of the lower half portion 16a. The flange 18a provided at the tip of the shaft 18 and the flange 8b of the shaft 8 are coupled to each other. A closed connection is made by 19. Therefore, the mixing container 16 is moved by the rotation of the hollow shaft 8 on the rotary table 7 by the arrow C.
It can rotate in any direction.

Reference numeral 20 is an upward boss projectingly provided at the center of the inner lower end of the lower half portion 16a so as to communicate with the shaft 18. Reference numeral 21 is a cylindrical connecting pipe connected to the upward boss 20. 21 Air blow hole 22 at the upper end
An air blower 22 provided with a and 22b is connected. The air blowing holes 22a and 22b are opened in the direction of the maximum diameter portion with respect to the rotation center axis of the container 16. Therefore, the mixing container 1 passes through the hollow shafts 8 and 18.
The air introduced into 6 is the boss 20 and the connection pipe 21.
The air is blown into the mixing container through the air blowing holes 22a and 22b.

An air discharge opening 23 is provided at the center of the upper end of the upper half portion 16b, and the air is discharged through the opening 23.

24a, 24b and 24c are the upper half 16
b is a stirring rod provided on the periphery of the opening 23 of b, and a metal rod-shaped member formed in a "U" shape is the container 1
They are provided at substantially equal intervals along the center axis of rotation 6 toward the lower part inside the container.

In addition, one agitating rod 24a is provided with a "U" -shaped abutting member 25 obliquely downward from the middle abdomen thereof. In the state of FIG. 1 in which the upper half portion 16b and the lower half portion 16a are connected, the lower ends of the stirring rods 24a to 24c are lower than the connecting portion at the center of the container 16a.
When the container 16 is inverted, the lower end portion 25a of the contact member 25 contacts the upper surface of the air blower 22 in the connected state (see FIG. 4). The blower 22 is prevented from falling.

Reference numeral 26 is an operating portion, 27 is a swing switch for rotating the forward / reverse rotation motor 6 in the direction of arrow A, 28 is a swing switch for rotating the motor 6 in the direction of arrow B, and 29 is a mixture. A container rotation switch for rotating the container 16 in the direction of arrow C, 30 is a blower time timer for setting the operation time of the blower 15,
The switches and timers are electrically connected to the motors 6 and 14 and the blower 15 through the support pillars 26a. Reference numeral 31 is a power-on switch, 32 is a power-off switch, and 33 is a power-source monitor lamp that lights up when the power is turned on.

Reference numeral 34 is a container for containing foods such as rice after mixing, 35 is a moving table having a pulley 36 and having the container 34 placed on the upper surface thereof. It is put in place on the base rod 1 '.

The present invention is constructed as described above, and its operation will be described below. First, with the upper half 16b of the mixing container 16 removed, the rice R is placed in the lower half 16a.
And add vinegar. After that, the lower half portion 16a is covered with the upper half portion 16b, and the flanges 16 are locked by the lock members 17, 17.
A'and 16b 'are closely connected. The rice and vinegar may be fed through the opening 23.

Then, the air blowing time timer 30 is operated to start the air blowing for a predetermined time. Then, the blower 15 starts blowing air, and the blower pipe 15 a and the through hole 8 of the hollow shaft 8
Air is sent to the inside of the shaft 8 through c, and the air is blown into the inside of the mixing container through the air blow holes 22a and 22b through the hollow shaft 18, the upward boss 20, and the connection pipe 21.

Next, the container rotation switch 29 is pushed to drive the motor 14. Then, the hollow shaft 8 rotates in the arrow C direction via the gears 14a and 13, and at the same time, the mixing container 16 also starts to rotate in the arrow C direction.

In such a state, the swing switch 2
Press 7 to turn on the forward / reverse rotation motor 6. Then, the shaft 4 rotates in the arrow A direction via the worm 6a and the worm wheel 4a, and at the same time, the rotating machine base 7 starts rotating in the arrow A direction. And the machine base 7 is approximately 4 from the vertical direction.
The switch 27 is turned off in a state of being inclined 5 degrees (state of FIG. 5) to stop the rotation of the motor 14, and the rice R and vinegar are mixed and stirred in this state.

The mixing container 16 continues to rotate with its central axis of rotation (shaft 8) tilted about 45 degrees from the vertical direction. In such a state, the container 16 is spherical, so that the lower half portion 16a is The cooked rice R gradually moves in the direction of the maximum radial portion (the direction of the flanges 16a ', 16b') with respect to the center axis of rotation of the container due to the centrifugal force, and in this state, the rice R moved upward from below the container. Stir and mix by dropping downward.

At this time, since the central axis of rotation of the mixing container 16 is inclined at about 45 degrees, the rice R moves slightly downwards of the container 16, but the center of rotation of the container 16 is caused by the centrifugal force of the rotation of the container 16. Move in the direction of the maximum diameter with respect to the axis
The rice R does not stay in the lower portion of the container 16 because it rotates together with the container 16 while being slightly pressed against the inner wall of the container 16 by the centrifugal force.

That is, the charged rice R moves slightly in the maximum radial direction below the container 16 due to the inclination of the container 16, but also in the maximum radial direction in the upper and left and right directions of the container 16 due to centrifugal force. Then, the rice R moved in each of the above-mentioned directions is slightly pressed against the inner wall of the container by the centrifugal force,
Ascending and descending are repeated by the rotation of 6 and sufficiently stirred by the stirring rods 24a to 24c. Therefore, the rice R does not slip and stay in the lower portion of the container 16 with vinegar. Further, since the container 16 is spherical, the rice R can be easily moved particularly in the direction of the maximum diameter portion above the container 16,
The stirring effect can be further enhanced.

Further, the air blown from the blower 15 has air blowing holes 22a, 22 in the agitated and mixed state.
Since the rice R is blown from the b toward the maximum diameter portion in which the rice R is moving, the air evenly spreads over the rice R under stirring. Further, the air blown into the container 16 is easily discharged from the air discharge opening 23 and does not stay in the container 16.

After the stirring and mixing operation is performed for a predetermined time (for example, 3 or 4 minutes), the swing switch 27 is turned on again to drive the motor 14 until the container 16 is inverted (up to the state of FIG. 6). ), And rotate in the direction of arrow A. Then, in this state, the swing switch 27 and the swing switch 28 are alternately pressed to cause the container 16
Is slightly swung in the directions of arrows A and B (see the chain double-dashed line in FIG. 6).

Then, the rice R mixed with the vinegar inside the container 16 drops from the opening 23 of the upper half 16b, and the container 34
It is stored inside (see FIG. 6). Mix all rice R 1
After the completion of storage in the storage container 34 from 6, the swing switch 28 is pressed to rotate the mixing container 16 in the direction of arrow B to return to the state of FIG. After that, the same process as the above process may be repeated to mix the rice R and vinegar. Further, the air blowing time timer may be set so that the air blowing is stopped at the time when the above work is completed.

The above-mentioned series of steps, that is, the start of air blowing after the rice is fed, the mixing container 16 is rotated in the direction of arrow C, and the container 16 is rotated in the direction of arrow A by about 45 degrees.
In the tilted state, the container 16 is rotated in the direction of arrow A for a predetermined time (FIG. 5), and the container 16 is further rotated in the direction of arrow A to invert (FIG. 6). At this time, place the container 16 in the direction of arrows A and B.
The process of oscillating in the direction, rotating the container 16 in the direction of the arrow B to return to the state of FIG. 1 and stopping the air blowing is stored in the microcomputer to automatically end the process. May be.

[0037]

According to the present invention, it is possible to mix and stir the foodstuffs inside the spherical foodstuff mixing container with the central axis of rotation thereof inclined from the vertical line. Is moved in the direction of the maximum diameter part with respect to the center axis of rotation of the spherical container due to the centrifugal force based on the rotation of the spherical container, so that the food material does not stay in the lower part of the container and can be sufficiently mixed and stirred.

Further, since the foodstuffs inside the container can be blown from the air blowing holes in the direction of the maximum diameter portion, there is an effect that air can be blown evenly to the foodstuffs during stirring and mixing.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partial cross-sectional front view of a mixing device for food materials such as rice according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a partial cross-sectional side view of the mixing device.

FIG. 3 is a partial cross-sectional plan view of the same mixing device.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the vicinity of an air blowing hole of the mixing device.

FIG. 5 is a partial cross-sectional side view showing a state during mixing of food materials in the same mixing device.

FIG. 6 is a partial cross-sectional side view showing a state where food materials of the mixing device are stored in a container.

FIG. 7 is a partial cross-sectional side view showing a conventional foodstuff mixer.

[Explanation of symbols]

 4 Shaft 6 Forward / Reverse Rotating Motor 7 Rotating Stand 8 Hollow Shaft 14 Motor 16 Food Mixing Container 21 Connection Pipe 22 Air Blower 22a Air Blower 22b Air Blower 24a Stirrer 24b Stirrer 24c Stirrer R Rice

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[Procedure amendment]

[Submission date] December 16, 1992

[Procedure Amendment 1]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0034

[Correction method] Change

[Correction content]

After the stirring and mixing operation is performed for a predetermined time (for example, 3 or 4 minutes), the swing switch 27 is turned on again to drive the motor 14 until the container 16 is inverted (up to the state of FIG. 6). ), And rotate in the direction of arrow A. You
Then, the container 16 continues to rotate in the direction of arrow C.
It rotates in the direction of arrow A to reach the state shown in FIG. Then, in this state, by swinging the swing switch 27 and the swing switch 28 alternately, the container 16 is slightly swung in the directions of arrows A and B (see the chain double-dashed line in FIG. 6).

[Procedure Amendment 2]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0035

[Correction method] Change

[Correction content]

Then, the rice R mixed with the vinegar inside the container 16 drops from the opening 23 of the upper half 16b, and the container 34
It is stored inside (see FIG. 6). Mix all rice R 1
Once you have accommodated in the accommodating container 34 from 6, press the swing switch 28 is rotated the mixing container 16 in the direction of arrow B, off the container rotation switch 29 skip back to the state of FIG. 1
Then, the rotation of the container 16 is stopped. After that, the same process as the above process may be repeated to mix the rice R and vinegar. Further, the air blowing time timer may be set so that the air blowing is stopped at the time when the above work is completed.

[Procedure 3]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0036

[Correction method] Change

[Correction content]

The above-mentioned series of steps, that is, the start of air blowing after the rice is fed, the mixing container 16 is rotated in the direction of arrow C, and the container 16 is rotated in the direction of arrow A by about 45 degrees.
In the tilted state, the container 16 is rotated in the direction of arrow C for a predetermined time (FIG. 5), and the container 16 is further rotated in the direction of arrow A to invert (FIG. 6). At this time, place the container 16 in the direction of arrows A and B.
The process of oscillating in the direction, rotating the container 16 in the direction of the arrow B to return to the state of FIG. 1 and stopping the blowing and the rotation of the container 16 is stored in the microcomputer and automatically performed. May be configured to end.

[Procedure amendment 4]

[Document name to be corrected] Drawing

[Name of item to be corrected] Figure 2

[Correction method] Change

[Correction content]

[Fig. 2]

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A first rotary shaft is provided in a vertical direction from a machine stand, drive means for the rotary shaft is provided, and one end of a spherical foodstuff mixing container is attached to the first rotary shaft to attach the container to the container. The first rotating shaft is allowed to rotate about its axis, a stirring member is provided inside the container along the central rotating shaft, and the machine base is connected to a second rotating shaft orthogonal to the first rotating shaft. A device for mixing foodstuffs such as rice, characterized in that drive means for the second rotary shaft is provided, and the machine base is formed so as to be rotatable around the second rotary shaft. 2. The foodstuff mixing container mixes the foodstuffs therein by rotating about the first rotating shaft in a state inclined with respect to a vertical line by the rotation of the second rotating shaft. The mixing device for food ingredients such as rice according to claim 1. 3. The first rotary shaft is formed hollow, the front end of the rotary shaft is extended into the foodstuff mixing container, and the front end is provided with an air blowing hole in the direction of the maximum diameter with respect to the center of rotation of the container. 3. An air discharge opening is formed in the container, and air is blown into the rotary shaft by a blower to blow the food in the container from the blower hole. Mixing device for the listed ingredients such as rice.